Indian fugitive Nirav Modi, lodged in UK jail, got a big setback from the court, judge rejected the petition

Fugitive businessman Nirav Modi, who defrauded Indian banks of thousands of crores of rupees, has received a major setback from a UK court. The court has rejected Nirav Modi’s bail plea. The accused has been in London jail for the last five years and on Tuesday he had applied for bail, which was rejected by a UK judge. The judge said that there is a ‘substantial danger’ of him escaping from the clutches of justice if granted bail. Diamond merchant Nirav (52) is facing charges of fraud and money laundering in India and had lost his case against extradition to India.

He did not appear during the hearing on his bail application filed at Westminster Magistrate Court in London, but his son and two daughters were present. District Judge John Jani accepted the argument of his legal team that the last bail application was filed about three and a half years ago and after such a long time there has been a change in circumstances to allow the hearing to go ahead. After a brief hearing, Judge Jani said in the verdict, “However, I am satisfied that sufficient grounds remain against bail. There is a real and substantial risk that the applicant (Nirav Modi) will fail to appear in court or interfere with witnesses. He said, “This case, at any stage, involves the allegation of a very big fraud. In such a situation bail cannot be granted and the application is rejected.

CBI and ED teams were present during the hearing

CPS barrister Nicholas Hern told the court, “He has demonstrated his complete determination not to face charges in an Indian court and it would be no exaggeration to say that the fraud involved is more than one billion US dollars, out of which only 400 million US dollars have been seized. Therefore, he may still have access to significant resources in various jurisdictions.” A joint team of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) from India arrived for the hearing and was present during the court proceedings. He was arrested on an extradition warrant on March 19, 2019 and the then UK Home Minister Priti Patel ordered his extradition in April 2021.